The rupee closed weaker as it slid to its worst one-day fall in nearly two months on Friday, as elevated dollar demand from importers alongside maturing positions in the non-deliverable forwards market hurt the South Asian currency. Intermittent dollar sales from state-run banks, most likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, helped limit the currency's fall, traders said. The local currency's weakness also contributed to pushing dollar-rupee forward premiums to 3-week highs as importers locked in hedges while interbank traders held on to a paying bias. While the RBI's interventions to support the currency limit near-term weakness they also throw up a challenge by draining rupee liquidity from the banking system, which exerts upward pressure on local borrowing costs. Meanwhile, Asian currencies were largely rangebound and the dollar index hovered near a six-week high after upbeat U.S. economic data left traders trimming bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts. Markets are now pricing in a 67% chance that the Federal Reserve will stand pat on rates in April, up from 37% a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Odds of cuts in January and March are around 5% and 20%, respectively. The yen rose on Friday after Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Tokyo would not rule out any options to counter weakness in the currency, including coordinated intervention with the U.S. The Japanese currency weakened to an 18-month low against the dollar on Wednesday on concerns that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will have more leeway to introduce fiscally expansionist policies. The yen was last up 0.41% against the greenback at 157.98 per dollar. The dollar ebbed against the euro on Friday, after reaching a six-week high on Thursday. The greenback has been boosted by data showing an improving U.S. labor market, which has pushed back expectations of further Federal Reserve rate cuts until June. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.12% to 99.23, with the euro up 0.1% at $1.1618. Oil prices rose over 1% on Friday as supply risks remained in focus despite the receding likelihood of a U.S. military strike against Iran. Brent crude was up 84 cents, or 1.3%, to $64.60 a barrel at 1413 GMT, on course for a fourth consecutive weekly gain. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was up 80 cents, or 1.4%, to $59.99.......